Description

Asian-American director Tophy Cho’s weird, dark comedy uses non-linear live-action and anime to tell the story of a Buddhist hobo (played by Tophy Cho) trapped inside a video game, where his only chance to win is by reversing his karma. This leads him on a journey to save a princess and fight the devil (aka Mr. Wonderful), but the harder he tries to be a hero, the darker his path becomes. Stumbling between a strip club, an asylum, and prison, his clumsy pilgrimage only leads him further away from sanity and Enlightenment. But with the guidance of a monk inside a dumpster and a demon inside his head, the Buddhist hobo gradually learns the secrets to cheating his way to the last level.

The son of a Korean preacher, Tophy Cho studied film at the San Francisco Art Institute, where, before graduating, he put aside his studies to work on his mini-DV labor of love, Good Movie. A combination of autobiographical documentary and comic re-creation, Good Movie took three years and $200 to make. After one screening, Cho found the funding he needed for his next project: A Ripple in the World was shot on HD digital cameras with a budget of $12,000 and premiered at SF IndieFest 2007. - Jeff M. Giordano